话题链接：中国中学生崇尚在发展自己兴趣爱好的同时，还要勤奋学习，为将来上一所好的大学努力拼搏。那么，对于远在大洋彼岸的美国中学生来说，他们的生活是否和我们相同呢？他们是否也和我们一样在为上一所好大学而“一心只读圣贤书”呢？

　　As a student,you must want to know something about American high school students．In fact, just like in China, in the United States, high school is usually divided into two parts, one is called “junior high school” and the other is “senior high school”．

　　In China, children enjoy free education of nine years, but in the United States, the students enjoy free education until they are eighteen years old．As a result of the free education system, American children have little difficulty in going to senior high school．

　　American high school students can take part in a lot of activities outside the classroom, such as joining a music group or a sports team．Certainly, just like students in China, American students have to work hard in order to get good marks if they want to go to a good university．They don’t specialize(专攻)in any special subjects, and they take classes in all kinds of subjects all through the high school time．And those who come out with low marks at the end of a school year and who are supposed to stay a grade are often allowed to go on to the next grade．

　　In American high schools, there is fighting or hurting or other kinds of bad behavior(行为)．So children who want to go to universities are often sent to suburban(郊外的)high schools, where most students aim at going to good universities and the atmosphere(气氛)is quite different．

　　Peter is a Grade One student in high school, and he has a part time job in a restaurant．He washes dishes on Saturdays and Sundays from 8∶00 a.m.until 4∶00 p.m．He can earn ＄5.50 an hour．He saves almost all the money he can get because he wants to go to a good university．The cost goes up every year in universities．Of course, He has to spend some money when he goes out on Saturday nights．

　　Jane is a student in high school．She is in Grade Two．She has a job as a cashier(收银员)in a shop．The job pays well－about ＄6.75 an hour．On weekdays, she works every night after school from 4∶00 until 8∶00．So she has no time for homework, and her grades aren’t very good this year．But she has to work, or she can’t buy nice clothes and can’t go out on Saturday nights．Also, her car costs a lot of money．

　　Lucy is a new student in a university．She finds a part time job and works in a law office for three hours every weekday afternoon．She does office work, like putting away papers and letters,for ＄8.25 an hour．The job gives her a good chance to learn things because she wants to be a lawyer someday．But she doesn’t want to work every term．She needs time to study．

美国的孩子自幼崇尚独立，成人以后，大都不愿依靠父母来养活自己了。凭着自己的劳动换来的收入，很多学生不但能自己支付上学的各种费用，而且还可以养车、娱乐、买时髦衣服呢！读读他们的日常生活安排，你有什么感触呢？